Fancy oriental flavours? Yi Jing, Sheraton Saket's newest offering is a splendid addition to the property. The sprawling restaurant, dressed in hues of red, black and gold opened its doors to diners last month. The restaurant also has semi-private and private dining rooms, bars, hot pot tables, and Tie ban. Tie Ban is kind of live-cooking done on hot-steel plate. This style of cooking not only lends a strong and bold flavour to the food, but also promises a novel visual appeal for patrons.
'Yi' means change and 'Jing' refers to classic in Chinese. The wholesome contemporary Chinese fare of the restaurant does full justice to the name. Drawing inspirations from various regions of China, especially Hunan and Sichuan, Yi Jing is celebrating traditional cooking techniques and juxtaposing it with unique ingredients. The menu is expansive and impresses for its inventiveness and creativity. Deftly-done dimsums, hand-pulled noodles, barbecued specialities, soothing broths and a variety of meaty and sea-food delicacies- the wide menu may leave you spoilt for choice. To top it all, they also have an exquisite range of cocktails. Gin-based, vodka-based, whiskey-based, you name them and they have them all. We tried a handful of their offerings, here's our take on some of them.
The capital has no dearth of places to go for good dimsums, Yi Jing may just prove to be another stellar addition to the list. Among vegetarian dumplings, we really enjoyed the truffle and edmame dumpling. Melt-in mouth and marvellously done, the subtlety here is remarkable. The crystal veg dumpling is slightly more eclectic, and a delight to bite into. The non-vegetarian dumplings are a delicate blend of well-cooked meat and nuanced flavours. We particularly enjoyed the prawn hargao, spicy bullet chilli chicken and pan-fried stickler. Each distinct and delicious in their own right. You may also go for their soupy dumplings. Meticulously placed in a bowl, you need to burst the dumpling for the broth to ooze out, and then have the rest at one go. There, we saw you slurping.
Chilli pork
We loved the amount of options we were given to choose from within vegetarian, meat, poultry and seafood appetizers. The hot and fiery Chilli green bean with Sichuan pepper is worth a try. The crispy, honey lotus stem is another star highlight. The size of the lotus stem got us so intrigued that we were tempted to ask where these were sourced from, we were told that it is imported specially from districts of China. The Hunaan style-chilli pork is sure to impress all pork lovers, cut in thin strands, the chunky texture of the dish coupled with bold flavours makes for a memorable treat; so does the Sichuan chilli chicken, chilly prawns and Beijing's roast duck.
We also tried the Peking duck spring rolls. Done with sweet and chilly Hoisin sauce, sliced duck and cucumber, it is a treat that will stay with you long after you have left the place for its impeccable flavours and texture. If you are looking for something comforting, you can go for their egg fried rice and sliced lamb with shitake mushroom in Oyster sauce.
Moving on to desserts, we tried our hands at their white chocolate and ginger cheesecake served with jasmine tea jelly, candied ginger, ginger crumb and lime crème. Ingenuity at its best, the dessert manages to find the perfect balance, despite many pronounced ingredients. They also have amazing choice of ice creams that they keep changing periodically. Their hazelnut praline and yuzu rocher with candy floss is also all thing crisp, melt-mouth and delish.
Where: Yi Jing,Sheraton Hotel, District Centre, Saket, New Delhi
Price For Two: INR 2800